


When The Sleeper Wakes

by Soofdope



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: Canon-compliant until S4, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-03 12:10:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2850389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soofdope/pseuds/Soofdope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Throwback Thursday to S2 and its freshly unbronzed H.G. The show never gave us enough of her discovering the 21st century. This is an attempt to rectify that mistake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When The Sleeper Wakes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crazycat9449](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazycat9449/gifts).



> This is my gift to crazycat9449 for the Bering and Wells holiday gift exchange. I could never even hope to be half as good as some of the many talented assholes in this fandom, but I hope that you enjoy this either way. As requested, here be minimal angst.

Despite all the rage and resentment that Helena carries around within her body displaced in time, she still cannot help but marvel at human ingenuity. The drive to dream, to develop, to not only survive, but thrive, and make all aspects of life easier, that is something she really can respect. She was like that once. Still is, in certain ways. She supposes that the only thing that has really shifted is the direction in which she thinks these new developments should go.

Laptops are truly wondrous. They’re one of the first things she discovers after being awoken from her long sleep. She has the salesman, a young man that she guesses to be barely old enough to be working in the store, explain the basics to her when she buys her own one day, but it isn’t until Claudia comes to trust her enough to _really_ show her the basics that she finally learns how to get her money’s worth out of this machine. 

Helena has always enjoyed figuring things out through hard work and logical thinking, but she really is so far out of her depth with this one that having someone to ask for the occasional tip is a welcome change. What she most wants to do is take the entire device apart, as if that will somehow lead to a deeper understanding of how to navigate the device. Claudia tells her that she has an old one lying around somewhere, promising her that they can take it apart together someday. H.G. knows they might not have as much time as Claudia suspects, but she tries not to insist. 

It is explained to her, with as much patience and understanding as Claudia can muster, that clicking every advertisement proclaiming to give away free items, or telling her to check her virtual mailbox, is not a good idea, because this is _spam_ and that can lead to _viruses_. Helena nods as if she understands, and makes a mental note to look up those terms on the Google.

Once Claudia “cleans” her laptop and Helena follows her instructions, it works much better for her. The day she manages to help Artie with a software problem, he gets even grumpier than usual and refuses to acknowledge her presence for several hours except through grunts in her general direction.

Clauda tells her she’s proud of her.

\-------

Most of Helena’s inventions had always been grand ideas with even grander practical applications. The grappler, allowing her to soar to new heights; her designs for the imperceptor vest, held back by the inadequate knowledge of her time, but never limited by the ingenuity of her mind; her time machine, not working quite as she had hoped it would, but, still, when it came down to it, a formidable machine capable of bending the fabric of time itself. She had been a great thinker, envisioning bold plans for the future, but really, the real life-changing inventions were sometimes the truly ordinary, seemingly inconsequential ones, revolutionising perhaps not the world, but improving day-to-day life for so many people. Helena has marvelled over the small square pieces of paper called sticky notes, and simple items like paper towels and paper tissues also manage to impress her. She really did wish she would have thought of that. 

Another sort of brilliance that she doubts she will ever get over is the one that led to the creation of refrigerators and freezers. She finds that she enjoys going into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and staring at its contents, often without the intent to even take anything to consume. Pete tells her that this is a simple pleasure enjoyed by many.

Leena gives her a motherly sort of look when Helena conducts an experiment by placing a tray of water, divided into little squares for the purpose of making ice cubes, into the freezer, and opens it every few minutes to determine the speed of the freezing process. Leena tells her that this is letting all the cold out, and it won’t be accurate that way. Helena knows this, but it’s all just so exciting that she cannot help herself. 

\-------

In her short period as a Warehouse 13 agent, she finds the time to watch a few movies with her new colleagues. Pete and Claudia are mostly in charge of selecting the films that she must watch, making enough recommendations that she could easily spend several weeks without any breaks just going through their list of suggestions. Her favourite is easily the first animated feature they have her see, Disney’s _Cinderella_. She is familiar with the zoetrope, of course, and she understands the technicalities of animated movies much better than most things in this new world, but understanding that something is possible is an entirely different thing than seeing it unfold in front of your very eyes. The sheer beauty and fluidity of the animation produced from all these individual hand-drawn images is simply astounding to her. Claudia informs her that they can make even better things with computers these days, but Helena thinks this is a bit like cheating. However, she requests that they watch some more of these animated movies soon.

But in the end, her plan comes to fruition before they manage any of that, and before she knows it, Myka has managed to dissuade her from striking the trident a third time and her consciousness is stored inside the Janus coin while her body is free to roam around, inhabited by this new, Regent-constructed mind.

\-------

The third time she sees Myka again after the events at Yellowstone is the first time her presence is not somehow requested for Warehouse business. Myka must have managed to procure the ball containing the Janus coin without anyone noticing, because Helena doubts that the Regents would just allow Myka to take her out for a movie, even if the lack of a physical body prevents her from wreaking any havoc even if she wanted to. 

They don’t talk. Not about the important things. They sit in the back, and Helena once again marvels at the images playing before her. She really should be used to it by now, but this is nothing like Pete’s television screen at the B&B. Beforehand, Myka takes her to select confectionery and answers H.G.’s questions about the various food items available to them. She is familiar with popcorn and flavoured potato crisps, but a good deal of the other options are completely new to her. H.G. stares with a mixture of curiosity and revulsion at what the person in front of them orders, something called nachos with a sauce that is apparently supposed to be cheese.

“It’s a good thing I can’t actually eat anything,” she jokes to Myka, “Because I would almost be tempted to try this atrocity.”

“We’ll come back,” Myka says, not so humorously, “When you can.” Helena smiles up at her sadly. She certainly does hope so.

\-------

It turns out Myka’s hope and confidence is not misplaced, for Helena somehow manages to convince even Artie of her sincerity during the events at the Warehouse caused by Walter Sykes, and is, once again, reinstated as an agent. 

Her relationship with Myka changes, shifts ever so slightly from the playful, flirtatious interactions of the early days into something more serious, more real. More frightening, too. But Myka has evidently decided that the time to be frightened is over, and H.G. suddenly finds herself having to navigate the social rules of 21st-century courtship. She never used to care much for rules, especially when it came to selecting potential partners. This time however, it’s Myka, and Helena wants desperately to do this the right way, to give Myka everything she could possibly need and desire.

Myka lets her. For a little while, at least. Until she makes the unfortunate decision of taking pointers from Pete, and Myka has to tell her to stop trying so hard to be someone she’s not, that she has nothing to prove, nothing to make up for, or whatever it is that she’s trying to achieve. Helena nods seriously, then a smile creeps up on her face and she tells Myka that she understands, and that the only solution is to go full Victorian on her now.

Myka shuts her up with a kiss.

\-------

She watches a lot more movies now that her body and mind are back together. It’s infinitely more pleasurable, too, now that she can nestle her body against Myka’s, lean her head on Myka’s shoulder and have her run delicate fingers through her hair.

Myka, it turns out, is nearly as unaware of apparently important parts of pop culture as she is, and when Pete and Claudia have H.G. discover a new movie or television series, Myka is sometimes discovering it right alongside her. Many of Claudia’s little catchphrases start making sense to both of them at the same time, as does Pete’s comment about them being drift compatible.

Everyone, including Claudia, is surprised when, one night after a case that took them way too long to crack, Pete suggests unwinding with a few episodes of _Xena: Warrior Princess_. Myka is visibly taken aback. Steve can barely contain a laugh, but seems totally up for it. H.G. stares in confusion at everyone. Claudia is actually looking at Pete as if the only logical option is that he’s been whammied.

“What?” he says, drawing out the word while he lifts his hands almost in defence. “I have a sister, you know! And besides,” he shrugs, “Xena’s badass. And, you know, what with all that Sapphic love going around these days, I figured H.G. should know part of her people’s history.” Myka punches him in the shoulder for that, but they all huddle together and watch the first three episodes, until nobody can keep their eyes open anymore. A little to Myka’s surprise, H.G. falls instantly in love with the series, and pesters them over the next few weeks to watch the next episodes.

\-------

The one thing that makes Helena almost wish she’d gone through with her plan at Yellowstone is an infuriating little game that Pete introduces her to. _Flappy Bird_ is everything wrong with the human race, packed into the tiny virtual body of this creature birthed from the very pits of hell. H.G. plays for almost nine days straight, unable to put the game down while her virtual bird hits one pipe after the other, growing increasingly frustrated with every new death. She becomes so obsessed that it scares Pete, and Myka begins to wonder if the game could be some sort of artifact.

On the morning of day nine, Myka is awoken by a loud cheer of victory, followed by an entirely too bright screen being shoved into her face. It takes her a few blinks to see that it displays a score of 51, a whole four points more than Claudia’s reigning high score of 47. Myka has to sleepily remind Helena to put on some clothes before she goes to flaunt her victory in front of poor Claudia.

Helena never touches the game after that day.

\-------

The one suggestion that all of her fellow agents seem to agree on is Harry Potter. Myka’s fondness of those books is truly something to behold, and she and Claudia both insist that she read all the books before she allows Pete to marathon the movies with her. As with all things Myka, it doesn’t take long for Helena to cave. She is hesitant to communicate that the first few chapters, while entertaining enough, and with a handful of interesting characters appearances, have not really captivated her yet, and that she doesn’t get what all the fuss is all about. When she does convey this, Myka only urges her to keep reading.

The Halloween chapter is the first one that makes Helena feel truly invested in the story. They’re in bed, and she’d told herself that she would read a chapter or two to unwind from a long and tiring day. Myka has settled in against her shoulder and is reading along, glancing up at Helena’s face occasionally to gauge her reactions. 

By the time she finishes the chapter about Christmas and the Mirror of Erised, Helena knows that the book has managed to convince her. She wants to talk to Myka about it, but finds that she’s fast asleep against her shoulder. 

Helena glances back toward the book, tells herself that one more chapter couldn’t hurt anyone. She plants a loving kiss on the top of Myka’s head and rests her cheek there when she turns her attention back the book.

This new world really isn’t that bad, she thinks, as she flips the page.


End file.
